Marshals Capture Woman Fugitive

FORT LAUDERDALE — Judy Haas McNelis, the only woman on the U.S. Marshal Service`s 15 most- wanted list, was captured Saturday night at a local motel.

McNelis, 41, of White Springs, Fla., had eluded federal officials for two years following her indictment in 1983 on charges of masterminding the smuggling of thousands of pounds of marijuana into Georgia.

U.S. Marshal Service spokesman Peter Nagurny said McNelis was arrested at 8:45 p.m. at the Ocean Way Motel, 3008 Castillo St., where she and her two children, David, 20, and Melanine, 18, had been staying under assumed names.

McNelis escaped July 27, 1983, from the city jail in Valdosta, Ga., where she was being held following her federal indictment. McNelis was indicted along with five other individuals on drug-smuggling charges.

A warrant was later issued for McNelis` arrest in January 1984 for her role in a drug-related Palm Beach County murder, according to Nagurny. Later that month, Nagurny was placed on the marshal`s fugitive list.

Federal authorities have been searching for McNelis since her escape, but their biggest break came Friday, when marshal officials in Georgia learned that McNelis might be staying in the Fort Lauderdale area.

Nagurny said marshals in South Florida, along with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, initiated an ``intensive search`` around 12:30 p.m. Saturday that led to discovering McNelis` whereabouts.

Arrested along with McNelis Saturday night was her son. Several miles away, at a fast-food restaurant in the 1400 block of Northeast 26th Street in Wilton Manors, authorities picked up Melanie McNelis.

Both McNelis children were taken into federal custory and charged with harboring a fugitive.

McNelis is being held in Dade County without bond, and all three members of the family are scheduled to appear Monday at 1 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Patricia Kyle in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale.